The present invention relates in general to a portable receptacle for use in and on a pedestal sink and in particular to a heat-resistant sheath, preferably made of silicone, for storing electric heated hair-styling appliances such as curling irons, straightening irons, flattening irons, heated rollers, hot brushes, hot air curlers, and stylers such as hair dryers and the like.
There are a number and variety of electric heated hair-styling appliances, including without limitation curling irons, straightening or flattening irons, heated rollers, hot brushes, and hot-air curlers and stylers. To use most of these devices, the appliance must be plugged into an outlet and allowed to warm up. After use, the unplugged appliance can take up to fifteen minutes to cool to a safe handling and storage temperature.
Many of these appliances are operated in small or cluttered bathrooms and at times when the user of the appliance is in a rush. Particularly for users of these appliances whose bathrooms are designed with a free-standing pedestal sink, there is no counter space or unoccupied surface on which to rest the appliance while it warms up or cools off. This situation creates a risk of injury to the user or other individuals, as well as increasing the risk of damage to property.
Hair dryers and curling irons account for many residential fires every year, resulting in deaths, injuries, and millions of dollars in property loss. Further, there are very many hair care appliance related injuries reported every year. To date, there has not been available a simple means of safely storing a hot hair appliance, immediately before, during and after use thereof, and especially in small and/or cluttered bathrooms with simply a pedestal sink or a towel bar, without the increased risk of storing the hair appliance at such times in exposed fashion with hot surfaces of the appliance being closely adjacent combustible material or the humans that use the appliance.